But a new report by the UN’s Office of Drugs and Crime finds prosperity in the Asian century has a dark underbelly: the proliferation of sophisticated, adaptive organised criminal networks that may, if there is no effective response to disrupt their activities, cause the region to stumble.

The UNODC report, Transnational Organised Crime Threat Assessment, East Asia and the Pacific, indicates organised crime – in the form of illicit flows of goods and services – is thriving in our region, producing a combined income of nearly $US90 billion.

The report shows these crime flows are served in Asia by both loose networks and durable, large-scale criminal enterprises.

A high proportion of crime proceeds in the region are laundered through real estate. Most of these crimes are high-profit and low-risk. But they are damaging lives and eroding the social fabric in Asia.

The report finds the largest illicit crime flow in our region is not related to the trafficking of either heroin or methamphetamines, but counterfeit goods and fraudulent medicines.

The profits generated by human trafficking are, compared with other flows, quite small. The estimated size of the flow of people smuggling from south and west Asia to Australia is valued at $85 million.

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East Asia gets almost all its heroin from two sources: Myanmar (about two thirds) and Afghanistan (the remaining third). Myanmar heroin enters northern Thailand and is moved to Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. Cambodia is a major trans-shipment country for heroin to Australia. It’s evident from the report that enforcement approaches to drugs aren’t doing very well.

In east and south-east Asia, the crime of trafficking electronic waste products – so-called e-waste – funds organised crime to the tune of $US3.75 billion. The estimated flow of illegal wildlife in the region is $US2.5 billion. A kilo of rhino horn is valued at about a kilo of gold. The majority of the illegal trade in timber is embedded within the region’s legal trade. Our region accounts for about 70 per cent of the global illegal trade in timber.

About 75 per cent of the world’s counterfeit products originate from our region, primarily China. Between one-third and two-thirds of essential medicines tested in parts of our region are bogus.

A key message from the UNODC report for Australia is the need for practical co-operation with regional partners to tackle the dark side of the Asian century.

Our companies, funds and citizens are highly attractive targets for organised crime syndicates. While the report’s focus is on crime trends in Asia, we shouldn’t let that distract us at home: organised crime costs Australia at least $15 billion a year.

Thousands of Australians, for example, have been victims of organised investment fraud operations in recent years, with many of those targeting Asian-based Australians.

We’ll need to put transnational crime right at the centre of our understanding of regional security challenges.

Our criminal intelligence analysts, police, diplomats and aid officials will need to be at the sharp end of efforts beyond our borders, integrating national responses into regional and international strategies.